Taiwan’s smartphone maker HTC says is aiming at the cheaper end of the smartphone market with new models, as it forecast another loss in the current quarter and unveiled revenues for January lower than at any time since 2007.

The company is preparing to launch its next flagship phone, almost certainly in March, and has hinted at producing wearable products. It is also rumoured that it will work with Google to produce a new line of Nexus tablets later in the year.

Having seen its efforts with the top-end flagship HTC One and its $12m spending on an advertising blitz with Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr fail to restore its fortunes, the company chair and co-founder Cher Wang told Reuters: “The problem with us last year was we only concentrated on our flagship. We missed a huge chunk of the mid-tier market.”

HTC also aims to release smartphones costing between $150 and $200 globally this year, as well as high-end phones like the One. That would give it a shot at the more quickly growing low-end market, though the high-end market – where growth has almost stalled – is dominated by Apple and Samsung.

But HTC forecast on Monday that its first-quarter revenues in 2014 will be between NT$34bn and NT$36bn ($1.12bn to $1.19bn), the lowest since 2009, and make a per-share loss of between NT$2.1 to NT$2.6 - equivalent to a net loss of between NT$1.74bn and NT$2bn ($57m to $66m).

Its January revenues, of NT$9.67bn ($318m), however, pointed to further decline in the company’s business even as it prepares to launch the new flagship phone, apparently codenamed “M8”.

The January figures were the lowest for that time since 2007, before the current smartphone boom took off.

The company made a net loss of NT$1.8bn ($43m) for the year of 2013, equivalent to NT$1.60, after heavy losses in the third quarter.

In a statement, Wang said: “We will continue to stay focused on making the best smartphone and building a compelling mid-range portfolio. Meanwhile, we are going to communicate better with consumers.”

The company also avoided the risk of an import ban in the US after signing a patent and technology collaboration deal with the Finnish phone company Nokia, which had been suing it over a mixture of standards-essential and utility patents in a number of courts, including the UK, Germany and the US.

Nokia had begun its patent litigation against HTC in 2012, filing more than 50 lawsuits worldwide.